Nutrition and what we eat play a major role in our health, wellbeing and even our overall wellbeing and happiness too.
And more and more experts are starting to advice us that certain foods or nutrients can even improve things such as sleep and behaviour.
In fact, something as simple as a dietary supplement could reduce disruptive, even abusive behaviour, according to newly released research by a team led by a UMass Lowell criminal justice professor.
It’s true. Giving children omega-3 fatty acid supplements reduces disruptive behaviour, which in turn had a positive effect on their parents, making them less likely to argue with each other and engage in other verbal abuse, according to Jill Portnoy, an assistant professor in UMass Lowell’s School of Criminology and Justice Studies.
In a year-long study, some 200 children were given either a fruit drink fortified with omega-3s or placebo drinks. Over the course of the year, parents were asked to report on their child’s behaviour, as well as their own psychological aggression stemming from their child’s misbehaviour.
The group of parents who gave their children the omega-3 juice drink reported less aggression from their child and from themselves, according to Portnoy.
“This is a promising line of research because omega-3 fatty acids are thought to improve brain health in children and adults. There is more to be learned about the benefits, but if we can improve people’s brain health and behaviour in the process, that’s a really big plus,” said Portnoy, noting that a recent research review found that omega-3 supplements do not affect cardiovascular health.
The new research, published in the scholarly journal Aggressive Behaviour, is just one example of how Portnoy is studying biological and social factors that can help explain and predict impulsive and risky behaviour. The goal is to help determine effective ways to intervene before anti-social behaviour escalates into crime.
Fancy seeing f it will work in your house? Foods that contain plenty of Omega-3s are salmon, sardines or trout, fish high in the fatty-acid.
